The Innovative Spirit and Masterful Craft of Brad Goode

Brad Goode

Recording Artist, Educator, Soloist, Jazz Master

A multi-instrumentalist and composer who performs on trumpet, bass and drums, Brad Goode is recognized as a unique stylist with a highly creative approach to improvisation. He has recorded on dozens of jazz albums, including 18 as a leader for the Delmark, Sunlight, SteepleChase and Origin labels. He is a dedicated educator, with many of his students enjoying successful music careers.

Brad began playing violin at age 4, switching to rock guitar at age 8. He later earned a BM degree in classical trumpet at the University of Kentucky, and an MM degree in bass at DePaul University. His trumpet teachers include Vincent DiMartino, Byron Baxter, Clark Terry, Chris Gekker and William Adam.

Brad’s philosophy on the teaching of improvisation is unique, formed by his own learning experiences outside of academia. He has presented lectures internationally on the need for a reconsideration of jazz pedagogy methods, and teaches courses on jazz pedagogy to graduate students and educators.

Brad Goode has served on the faculties of The American Conservatory of Music, New Trier High School, Cuyahoga Community College, The University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, The Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts and The University of Colorado, where he is currently Associate Professor of Jazz Studies, and serves as the Musical Director for the Conference on World Affairs.

For additional information please visit:
– bradgoode.com

Critical Thinking vs. Imitative Learning in Jazz Education

Presented by Brad Goode at The University of Colorado, Colorado Conservatory of the Jazz Arts

Meet The lyrical genius of the trumpet

Exploring the Journey of a Jazz Innovator and Trumpet Luminary

Why did you choose music as your career?

I am happiest when I’m playing or listening to music.

Have you ever wanted to give up playing music?

No, but I have needed to stop playing for long periods several times; never by choice.

On days when you are not performing or rehearsing, how long do you practice?

I try to play for at least 5 hours each day. On days when I’m not performing, I’ll practice for 5 hours or more.

What do you focus on during your home practice sessions?

Trumpet technique and improvisation. I work on harmony at the piano.

How long did you study or play jazz before your solos started to sound cohesive and professional?

That is a very difficult question for me to answer. I have never studied jazz formally and I started playing jazz gigs when I was 15 years old. I think I was satisfied with the way I improvised until my mid-20s, when severe self-criticism started interfering. This lasted for about 25 years, and it was difficult to find my way out of that cycle. I finally did, thank goodness.

What kinds of scales and patterns do you practice?

No scales or patterns. I have been very vocal in my opposition to teaching jazz with both chord-scale theory and pattern practice. I even quit a prestigious job over my strong feelings about this subject. These are very limiting techniques. I feel that they can often result in either memetic or random sounding music.

When you are improvising, do you think about scales, or do you simply play melodies and ideas that come to mind?

I play by ear, but I use my practicing to intellectually feed new information to my unconscious mind. My primary focus has always been rhythm, but I’ve worked very hard to develop my melodic and harmonic awareness. When I was younger, I practiced using the melodic construction techniques that I learned while studying counterpoint. Those many hours of practice taught me how to make the changes by highlighting chord tones through their rhythmic placement in the melodic line. As I got better at this, I started applying all of Bach’s exceptions regarding intervallic melody and delayed resolutions. The goal is to intellectually put these sounds into the air and to hear them being played so that the unconscious mind becomes habituated to this type of melodic construction. Because this was working, I continued that way of practicing, playing things into my own ears. I did this with polyrhythm, chordal superimposition, bitonality, etc.… everything that I intellectually understood but couldn’t really hear. I believe in training my own ear to hear what I wish I could hear. When performing improvisation, I simply focus on what the rhythm section is playing and allow my unconscious mind to contribute whatever comes up. I try not to listen to myself playing. I imagine that my thoughts are just leaking out the bell of the trumpet, and I pay no attention to them.

When soloing, do you have the chord changes memorized, or do you rely on shapes and colors of the tune?

There are two versions of soloing. The first is where you read changes or imagine changes in your mind’s eye. In this version, I act as an instant composer, using harmonic, melodic and rhythmic theory to construct solo lines which sound musical for the situation. I prefer the second version of soloing, where you simply play by intuition. When I solo in this way, I never want to read or think about the changes. However, I won’t perform a tune until I’m so certain of the changes that I will play better when I stop thinking about them, if this makes sense. For every standard that I play, I know the complete lyric and I think about it throughout the performance. I know the original key, the original changes, etc. Then I use my own changes; substitute progressions, passing chords and reharmonizations improvisationally on the tune. I never consider the changes of a tune to be “set.” That’s not the way we approach chord progressions in jazz.

Do you ever run out of ideas while playing a solo?

I don’t enter with any ideas. I just leave everything to fate.

Are you generally not concerned with the actual chord changes?

I know the original changes, not the fakebook changes. I can comp on any tune I know in any key on the piano. I never feel ready to interpret a song until I know it to that degree. I organize changes in my memory by chord function rather than by letter names. In this way, I don’t need to transpose. Then, as I said earlier, the real art of improvisation includes improvising changes against the form. I took my inspiration from people who did that both on recordings and in my real life. I learned so much about the possibilities for improvising chord changes from the great pianists I played with, like Jodie Christian, Ron Perrillo, Willie Pickens and others.

Do you write out some ideas for your solo before heading into the studio?

Heavens no!

Do you prefer playing with your own band or collaborating with other groups?

I very rarely perform as a leader. Most of my work is done as a lead trumpeter in commercial music or latin music groups. I used to work as a sideman in jazz quite often, but many of my bandleaders have passed away. Now, I’m just grateful to play whenever and wherever anybody will have me!

Do you approach your playing differently when performing with your big band compared to being a soloist in someone else's group?

I try to play what feels right in the moment, whatever the situation or song. Each band or each gig suggests its own boundaries, and gig experience helps us psyche those out faster as we play in more situations.

Who do you listen to for inspiration?

The most inspiring musicians in my life were Von Freeman, Ira Sullivan, Jodie Christian, Eddie Harris and Ernie Watts. I don’t listen to recordings for inspiration too much. I vastly prefer direct, live influence. However, I do listen to a lot of recorded music in my down time. I play recordings from the history of jazz all day, every day for my students, so I keep hearing and re-hearing that stuff, and it is always inspiring for me, every time.

Do you enjoy teaching, or do you prefer recording and performing instead?

I really enjoy teaching. I spent many years playing in noisy bars, fighting to hear the band above the din of the crowd noise. As my music was ignored nightly, sometimes it felt like I wasn’t doing anything valuable or meaningful with my life. I remember one night in the late 1990s being so frustrated by this and saying to a friend, “am I just going to do THIS for the rest of my life?” That’s when I took my first full-time teaching position. I like to believe that the knowledge and experience I’ve fought so hard to acquire might, in some way, be helpful and meaningful to other people.

When recording, do you go for the first take of a solo, or do you typically do multiple takes until you’re satisfied with the result?

I don’t choose the take based on my own playing. I choose it based on the overall performance, cohesion and creativity of the band. I usually like to do two or three takes of a tune with no playback in the moment. That way, I can listen later when I have some distance from the experience and less ego wrapped up in my own playing, or how I feel about my playing at that time. With space, I usually forget how it felt and get a bit more objectivity around the results.

What equipment are you currently using?

I have designed a trumpet for KHS/XO Brass. It is a small-bore B-Flat trumpet. I am playing the prototype for that instrument. Hopefully, it will be commercially available soon. I use custom mouthpiece components made by Karl Hammond, Terry Warburton and Ken Titmus. The cups are all very slight variations of the Warburton 6s cup, with various backbore shapes.

Do you choose different equipment depending on the group or the specific job?

I will use a straighter backbore taper when I need more projection. I use a tighter drill size at high altitudes, and vice-versa. (I live in the mountains.) #27 at sea-level, #28 at home (5400 ft.), #29 in the mountains. This helps compensate for the changes in oxygen levels and sound densities between those environments.

How much time and effort do you dedicate to composing?

I don’t do it too often. When I have a new recording or occasion coming up, I’ll sit down and write intensively for several days. I procrastinate and then knock something out.

When composing, do you start with a progression and then create a melody, or does the melody come first?

Sometimes it’s a melodic idea, sometimes it’s a rhythmic idea, and sometimes it’s a chord progression. I have some tunes that are chord cycles, such as “The Snake Charmer” or “Nightmare of the Mechanized World.” I do all my composing at the piano, and I do all of my arranging with pencil and paper, away from the piano. I’ve written several big band charts on airplanes or buses.

Do you believe anyone can learn to improvise with the right guidance and effort?

Yes. When we dedicate ourselves to something with determination and hard work, the sky is the limit.

What is the best advice you would give to a jazz aspiring player?

The instrument is just a vehicle for expressing the music that already plays in your imagination. Learn the instrument well without relying on visual cues or methods. Strive to have it become a natural extension of your thinking. Ernie Watts asked me, “How long do you have to practice before the instrument disappears?”